Olivia Ladinig

Newborn infants detect the beat in music

To shed light on how humans can learn to understand music, we need to discover what the perceptual capabilities with which infants are born. Beat induction, the detection of a regular pulse in an auditory signal, is considered a fundamental human trait that, arguably, played a decisive role in the origin of music. Theorists are divided on the issue whether this ability is innate or learned. We show that newborn infants develop expectation for the onset of rhythmic cycles (the downbeat), even when it is not marked by stress or other distinguishing spectral features. Omitting the downbeat elicits brain activity associated with violating sensory expectations. Thus, our results strongly support the view that beat perception is innate.

Is Beat Induction Innate or Learned? Probing Emergent Meter Perception in Adults and Newborns using Event-related Brain Potentials

Meter is considered an important structuring mechanism in the perception and experience of rhythm in music. Combining behavioral and electrophysiological measures, in the present study we investigate whether meter is more likely a learned phenomenon, possibly a result of musical expertise, or whether sensitivity to meter is also active in adult nonmusicians and newborn infants. The results provide evidence that meter induction is active in adult nonmusicians and that beat induction is already functional right after birth.

The Potential of the Internet for Music Perception Research: A Comment on Lab-Based Versus Web-Based Studies

While the discussion on the integrity of data obtained from Web- delivered experiments is mainly about issues of method and control (Mehler, 1999; McGraw et al., 2000; Auditory, 2007), this comment stresses the potential that Web- based experiments might have for studies in music perception. It is argued that, due to some important advances in technology, Web-based experiments have become a reliable source for empirical research. Next to becoming a serious alternative to a certain class of lab-based experiments, Web-based experiments can potentially reach a much larger, more varied and intrinsically motivated participant pool. Nevertheless, an important challenge to Web-based experiments is to control for attention and to make sure that participants act as instructed; Interestingly, this is not essentially different from experiments that are performed in the laboratory. Some practical solutions to this challenge are proposed.